On last Friday, the 9th instant, after the mail to the United States had
closed, I received a letter signed “E. Mendoza,” and addressed to me as
“United States minister to Honduras” (copy and translation are herewith,
marked 1), inclosing a paper stated to be a copy of a so-called treaty
of union between the Republics of Honduras, Salvador, and Nicaragua
(copy and translation herewith, marked 2). Mr. Pringle informs me that a
copy of this treaty, when negotiated by the plenipotentiaries but still
unratified, was sent to the Department in Mr. Pringle’s No. 199, of July
30, 1895, hence my reference to this date in my cable for the purpose of
identifying the treaty I referred to.
For reasons above and below stated I desired to have advices from our own
consul at Tegucigalpa on the fact of the suppression of the ministry of
foreign affairs and reference of diplomatic business to San Salvador and
accordingly, on being informed of the circumstance on last Friday, I
telegraphed Mr. Little for information. Owing to delay in transmission I
did not receive his reply till Monday night. It confirmed the
information I had, as above set forth. I thereupon, on Tuesday morning,
sent the cable hereinabove confirmed. I have as yet no reply.
There are two points in the inclosed treaty to whichI take the liberty of
calling your particular attention: (1) That by Article I the sovereignty
proposed to be exercised is stated to be “temporary;” and (2) that by
Article VI this sovereignty is proposed to be exercised not originally,
but by delegation.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 9.]
Treaty of union concluded between the Republics
of Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.1
Their Excellencies General Rafael A. Gutiérrez, General J. Santos
Zelaya, and Doctor Policarpo Bonilla, Presidents of the Republics of
Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, having met for the important
purpose of reaching an understanding with a view to devising means
for the permanent establishment of the peace of Central America, and
accomplishing the project, so greatly to be desired, of the
reconstruction of the former body politic, immediately putting into
practice all that is deemed to be easy of execution, pending its
final accomplishment, have appointed Their Excellencies the
Presidents of Salvador and Nicaragua, their respective ministers of
foreign relations, to wit, Doctors Jacinto Castellanos and Manuel C.
Matus, and His Excellency the President of Honduras, his minister of
public works, to wit, Doctor E. Constantino Fiallos, who, after
having exchanged their full powers and found them to be in good and
due form, have agreed upon the following articles:
Article I.
The Republics of Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras shall hereafter
form a single political entity, for the exercise of their
sovereignty as regards their intercourse with foreign nations, to be
known as the Greater Republic of Central America.
This name shall continue in use until the Republics of Guatemala and
Costa Rica shall voluntarily accept the present treaty, in which
case it shall be called the Republic of Central America.
Article II.
The signatory Governments do not, by the present treaty, renounce
their autonomy and independence as regards the direction of their
internal affairs, and the constitution and laws of each State shall
remain in force so far as they are not inconsistent with the
stipulations hereof.
Article III.
For the execution of the provision contained in Article I, there
shall be a Diet, composed of one member and one substitute, elected
by each of the Congresses of the signatory Republics for a term of
three years.
[Page 391]
The resolutions of the Diet shall he adopted by a majority of votes,
and for their relations with other Governments they shall annually
choose from among themselves one, whose duty it shall be to serve as
the medium of communication.
The Diet aforesaid shall have power to adopt such regulations as may
be necessary for the discharge of its functions.
Article IV.
The main purpose of the powers conferred upon the Diet shall be to
maintain the best harmony with all nations with which the signatory
Republics cultivate relations of friendship, and to conclude for
that purpose such treaties, conventions, or agreements as may be
conducive to that end.
In every treaty of friendship that the Diet may conclude, it shall
expressly insert a clause providing that all questions that may
arise shall, necessarily and without exception, be settled by means
of arbitration.
Article V.
Until there shall be a general assembly, the ratification of treaties
shall be one of the duties of the Congress of each of the Republics;
and all treaties shall be considered duly ratified if they have been
ratified by a majority of the said Congresses.
In like manner, when the Diet shall have to adopt a decision
affecting the general interests, it shall proceed in accordance with
the opinion of the majority of the said Republics.
Article VI.
All questions now pending, or such as may arise hereafter among the
signatory Republics and any other nation, shall be passed upon by
the Diet in accordance with the data and instructions that shall be
communicated to it by the Governments concerned.
Article VII.
In case it shall not be possible for the Diet to settle a pending
question amicably, or to secure the submission thereof to
arbitration, it shall report the matter to all the Governments, to
the end that, in conformity with the decision of the majority of
them, the Diet may accept or declare war, as may be deemed
expedient.
Article VIII.
If, unfortunately, any question shall arise among the signatory
Governments, the Diet shall resolve itself into a court of
arbitration for the purpose of settling the difficulty on the basis
of the evidence and arguments that shall be submitted to it by the
Governments concerned. If, however, any one of the Governments shall
not agree to the decision they shall be bound to appoint, by mutual
agreement, an arbitrator who shall pronounce a final decision, on
the sole basis of the evidence and arguments submitted, and the
decision of the Diet.
In case of their inability to agree as to the designation of an
arbitrator, one shall be designated by the Diet, being chosen from
among the Presidents of the other American Republics.
Article IX.
Inasmuch as the principal object of this treaty is to maintain peace
and the strictest harmony among the contracting Republics, as the
most effectual means of realizing the union, their respective
Governments pledge themselves in the most formal and solemn manner,
to fulfil the stipulations contained in the foregoing article,
within the terms agreed upon by the parties, or, in default thereof,
within those fixed by the Diet.
Article X.
The power to appoint diplomatic and consular representatives of the
Greater Republic of Central America shall be vested in the Diet; and
among its functions shall be the reception and acceptance of
diplomatic and consular officers accredited to it.
Article XI.
The coat of arms and the flag of the Greater Republic of Central
America shall be the same as those of the old Federation.
[Page 392]
Article XII.
The Diet shall sit, by turns, one year in each of the capitals of the
contracting Republics, the order of its sessions being decided by
lot.
Article XIII.
The salaries of the members of the Diet shall be fixed by their
respective Governments, and the common expense shall be divided into
equal parts.
Article XIV.
Within three years, or sooner if possible, the Diet shall prepare a
draft of a plan for the definitive union of the signatory Republics
in such form as shall seem to it most suitable, and shall lay it
before a general assembly consisting of twenty members, elected by
each of the Congresses of the Republics aforesaid, immediately after
the Diet shall have notified the Governments that it has prepared
the draft in question.
The assembly shall meet in the place where the Diet shall be sitting,
and, at least two-thirds of the members chosen being present, shall
proceed to business.
Article XV.
This treaty shall be laid before the Governments of Guatemala and
Costa Rica by each of the signatory Republics, which shall urge
those Governments to adhere to its stipulations.
Article XVI.
When this treaty shall have been ratified by the Congresses of the
signatory Republics, its ratifications shall be exchanged at any of
the capitals one month after the final ratification, it being agreed
that the expiration of that period does not imply the lapse of the
treaty, and the exchange may, consequently, take place at any
time.
Article XVII.
When a Congress has ratified the treaty, it shall at once proceed to
elect the members of the Diet to whom it is entitled, so that the
Diet may enter upon the discharge of its duties three months, at the
latest, after the exchange of the ratifications.
In testimony whereof the undersigned
ministers have signed this treaty and sealed it with their
respective seals, in triplicate, in the port of
Amapala, on the twentieth day of
June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-five, being the seventy-fifth year of the
Independence of Central America.
[
l. s.]
Jacinto Castellanos.
[
l. s.]
M. C.
Matus.
[
l. s.]
E. Constantino
Fiallos.
[Here follow the decrees of the Presidents of Salvador, Honduras,
and Nicaragua approving the foregoing treaty; also the
instrument for the exchange of the ratifications.]
